Truck boom



June 24, 1958 M. D. POLLARD 2,840,255

TRUCK BOOM Filed June 22, 1956 INVENTOR. Byhm United States Patent,

40,2 5. TRUCK Boo Marion D. Pollard, Lorain, Qhiopassignor to Lorain Products Corporation, Lorain,'-0hio,'"a"corporation'of r Application June 22, 1956, Serial N0. 593,216

H ic l n 9? 1 1?) The present invention relates to the art of attachable booms for lift"trucks-'orthe'like and'more in particular we "lift boom which may be easily-attached to and used in 'c'ombin'ation witha lift 'truck."*-'

*In' th: past various types of'booms have been designed for use-incombinationi'with liftt s. Generally-a lift truck has an upright and a pair "of tines "which'slide up and down that upright to lift a load. -Va'rious atte'inpts have been "r rrade to" attach booms to the tifies, or theuprightofto a combinationofth'esetwo in" such manner that the 'bo omcan'be used toliftheavy objects of a larger size than can be stipported'by the tinesjor to pick up and deposit loads froml locations where it is impossible toget the tines of theforkliffitruck'infufi In some cases tlieseprior booms were sim'ple' A frames which rested on the-tines and-hada hook on the apex ofthe A frame for attachment to theload'u A c'able was then "attached betweenthe apex of the A frame 'and tlieupi'ight to keep 'the A-frameiin an upward-and outstanding position relative to the'tinesi-or to the roadway orfWhich the fork lift-truck was" being used. *fjAppar'atus of thistypeashes" been used in the past, does not lend itself readily to those'oecasions whereintl-ie load bearing "endofth'e'boom is to be lowered to a position level with the roadway or the bottbm-most'positio'ri ofthe titles or even-below that" level and in which the load bearing end of theboom may*'be"raised to an The"presentinvention contemplates a simple, inexpensive "and sturdy'boom which nia'y" be as'ilyzattaclred 'to the upright ahd the tines "of Mona lift truck insuch manner that the load bearing end bf the-boom may-be raised or lowered a distanc greater' tlfanthe distance that .positiori. lii combinatidfi with 'eof forklift'truck t tlaaaa ii e :-'a pt d w apon a load. This boom'is' pivotally supported intermediate 1 nd th f, by a sf'whi s t on hs'ftin s or similar load bearing portion of the fork lift truck. This means may be a post, T-fralne, or as described herein, an A-frame.

The boom may be of various lengths and is generally of a convenient length, whereby the load lifting end thereof, is spaced at a distance outwardly and beyond the load lifting tines of the truck. As the load lifting tines of the truck are raised relative to the vehicle the A-frame raises the load lifting end of the boom to lift a load supported therefrom, a vice versa, as the tines are lowered the load lifting end of the boom is lowered.

Fork lift f leV'atedpositiOn abovethe highest elevation" to which With this arrangement the load lifting end of the boom is actually raised or "lowered -adistance greater than- -the/ distance that the tines are raised or lowered. I Therefore, one ofthe objects of the present invention is to provide the combination of a fork lift: truckfiandna boom wherein the load liftingend of -the boom-may the raised-or lowereda distance greater than the-rdistance that the titles of the fork} lift truck" may be..rai se'd;-or lo wered I. 1: ine -A- further object of the present invention is to provide a forklift-truck. with an inexpensive and sturdyqboom which may be easily attachedanddetached therefrom; A still further objectofthe invention? isstot-provide a fork lift truck with a boom associated withtthe tines of the truckin such manner that-the load bearing end .ofthe, boom maybe lowered: to an' elevation belowthe" eleva= tion of thetines and may be raisedtoan elevation higher than the elevation of the tines. I.

-A still further object of -the inventionis to provide a boom for a fork lift truck so-that'loads may be lifted from and/ or deposited in locations completely finaccessi-i ble'by the tines ofthe truckw 3 Furtherobjects and;a fuller understanding of the inventionand its scopewvillbecome.appa-rent from-the following description of apreferred embodiment ofv the invention when taken ==in conjunctionwiththe attached claims and the included drawingconsisting of-a perspective view-of atruck boom-attached to a for-k .lift truckq- T he preferredembodiment ofthe invention, asei llustrated in the drawings, is being used in'combination with one particular typeof forklifttruck. This: particular type of fork lift truck as illustrated has a vehicle 10 provided with anupright 11 and-forks, tines OrItheIIike; 1'2

slidableron this upright 11 home ground levelelevation, as illustrated, to a'raisedelevation-above "the groundnor road *level. The vehicle ltl-is provided with suitable power means :such-"as commonly used-in the field-. to rais'e and lower the forks ortines =12relative-to1 the vehicle 10; and thus along the upright 11. Theraising ands lowering of the forks: or-tines 12 may be controlled by any suitable meanssuchfor example, the.'c0ntrol-.-13 illustrated in the drawing: and incorporated as asparttof-theivehicle.- lt is understood-the fork lift-.truck= illustrated herein, may be :used; in the normal manner-:wherein-the tines 12 are positioned underneath anloadto be raised and movedbyythefluck. 1

. In-those instances where the tines cannot be positioned under a -loadto be raisedand moved, thetpresent invention is used incombination with the forkdifttruckQtoraise and move the load. Basically andzin accord-ance with the inventiom-the preferred embodiment of thelapparatus comprises a boom15 and an A-frame 16.which:are-.connected to the upright 11 and the forks or tines.:1 2 in.the following manner. The A-frame rests-ton the .tineslg *and has its-apex or upper portion 17-.pivotallyuconnected to the boom 15 at a pointbetween-the ends'thereofl One end1-of=the boom 15 is pivotally oonnected -to the upright 1 1 and; the otherend .of the boom, constituting the load lifting-end 19, extends outwardly beyond the tines a distancedependententirely onthelength-oftheb m 15 MHz P t n... r rs wit xiv- Q a In the illustration the load lifting end 19' of the boom is below the roadway or at an elevation below the elevation of the tines 12. When the forks or tines 12 are raised upwardly along the upright 11, the load lifting end of the boom, is raised upwardly to an elevation as illustrated in phantom in the drawing. the load lifting end 19 of the boom, is at an elevation higher than the elevation of the tines or forks 12. Thus the distance of movement of the load lifting end 19 is more than the distance of movement of the forks or tines 12 along the upright 11. Naturally, the speed of move- In this position ment of the load lifting end 19 between these two extreme positions orbetween the raised and loweredeleva; tionsisfgreater than the speed of movement of the tines errata-12. The fork lifting end 19 maybe positioned at any desired elevation by properly controlling the ra ising' and lowering of the tines 12 by means of the provided contr6l, siich ascontrol 13 onthe vehicle 10, --It -is fndted*that in this movement *of raising and lowering theboom, the boom 15 pivots on the apex 17 and relative to'the A-frame 16 as" well as pivoting at the one end 18 relative to the upright 11. Although'the' one end 1820f the boom 15 maybe secured at any position along the'upright'II, it is preferably secured as illustrated to header 14 or uppermost portion of the upright 11.

A niodification of the invention will become apparent whee es booin and A-frame are used with a fork lift wherein. the upright 11 is comprised of two parts. In suchafork lift truck, and in many which are in commercialuse, the header is raised and lowered simultaneously with the raising and lowering of the forks or tines, 12,*but at'a speed and in a distance less than the speed brdistance ofmovementof the tines. When the boom and A-frame as disclosed herein are attached to the header and rest on the tines of such a truck a slightly different movement of the boom and A-frame is obtained iii-combination with the truck. In this modification the boom 15 will be somewhat bodily raised simultaneously with its 'being pivoted relative to the apex of the A-frame and also relative to the header 14. In, such instances, the distance of raising and lowering the load lifting end of' the boom will be dependent at least partly on the distance of raising and lowering the header as well as the distance of raising and lowering the tines or forks.

It is noted that in either modification the boom and A-frame work in combination with the tines 12 and the upright 11 of the fork lift truck. In both modifications the boom 15 is pivotally moved relative to the A-frame and also relative to the upright 11 or header 14 by the and lowering of the tines 12; Furthermore, in both'modifications the load lifting end 19, ofthe boom 15 may; be lowered to an elevation below the roadway orbelow thelowermost elevation of the tines and raised elevation higher than the highest elevation of the tines,;sothata load maybe lifted for example out of a hole and placed on a shelf higher than the tines will reach. Thusfthe objects of the invention are obtained by using the boom in combination with thefork lift truck.

It.is also understood that further modifications of the invention arrangements and details of parts thereof may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

i -1.-In.combination with a fork lift truck of the type comprising a vehicle, an upright movably mounted on said vehicle and adapted to be raised and lowered, projecting tines movably mounted on said vehicle in association with said upright and adapted to be raised and lowered, an A-frame 'resting o n said tines and having an apex, and a boom having a connecting end connected to ,said'upright and a load bearing end, said boom being pivoted, between the ends thereof to said apex whereby raising of the upright and tines raises the boom and simultaneously pivots the boom relative to said frame to raise the load bearing end and lowering of the upright and tines lowers the boom and simultaneously pivots the boom relative to said frame to lower the load bearlng end.

2. The structure of claim lincluding means to raise said upright at a slower rate of speed than said tines to cause pivotal movement of said boom relative to said A-frame and said upright.

3. In combination with. a fork lift truck of the type comprising a vehicle, first means movably mounted on said vehicle and adapted to be raised and lowered, second means movably mounted on said vehicle in association with said first means and adapted to be raised and lowered, supporting means resting on said second means and having a top end, and a boom having a connecting end connected to said first means and a load 7 bearing end, said boom being pivoted between the ends thereof to said support-means whereby raising of the first and second means raises the boom and simultaneously pivots the boom relative to said support means to reuse the load bearing end and lowering of the first and second means lowers the boom and simultaneously pivots the boom relative to said supportvmeans to lower the load bearing' end. I

4. The structure of claim 3 including means to raise said first means at a slower rate of speed than said second means to. cause pivotal movement of said boom relative to said support means and said first means. I

5. In' combination with a fork lift truck of the type comprising a vehicle, an upright on said vehicle, a header movably mounted on said upright, projecting tines movably mounted on said vehicle in association with said upright and adapted to be raised and lowered, an A-frame resting on said tines and having an apex, and a boom pivoted between the ends thereof to said apex and connected at one .end thereof to said header and defining a load bearing end at the other end thereof, and means to move said header and said tines simultaneously in thesame direction and at different speeds to pivot said boom relative to said frame to move said load bearing end at a ,stil

different speed.

6.. In combination with a fork lift truck of the type comprising a vehicle, an upright on said vehicle, a header movably mounted on said upright, projecting tines movably mounted on said vehicle in association with said upright and adapted. to be raised and lowered, first means resting ,on said tines. and having a top end, and a boom pivoted between the ends thereof to said top end and connectedat one end thereof to said header and defining a.load bearing end at .the other end thereof, and means to move said header and said tines simultaneously in the same, direction and atidifferent speeds to pivot said boom 1 relative to said frame to move said load bearing end at a still difierent speed.

i References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain July 14, 1954 

